End developer’s compensation ‘lottery’, residents group tells DBKL

A residents association wants new KL mayor Maimunah Sharif to look into the plight of evicted residents of Jinjang Selatan Tambahan who have been deprived of replacement homes and compensation.

PETALING JAYA: 

A residents’ association has called on the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to end 

lottery draws

 run by a developer to compensate the evicted residents of Jinjang Selatan Tambahan over concerns that the process may be open to abuse.

Ameer Khan Bargathalli, secretary to Jawatankuasa Gabungan Isu Perumahan, said the developer, Uttara Land Sdn Bhd, themselves may not be at fault.

However, he claimed there were several irregularities in the method employed to identify and compensate affected residents.

Ameer questioned the eligibility of some of those who received compensation under the scheme.

“Some have been successful as they were included in a DBKL list even though they were not in possession of a temporary occupation licence, while many more deserving residents were rejected.

Ameer Khan Bargathalli.

There are also residents with multiple claims,

 Ameer told FMT, adding that the list drawn up by DBKL contained instances of multiple persons being registered as owners of the same unit.

He also said only selected residents were offered compensation which took the form of a replacement home and a one-off payment, and that Uttara Land had bypassed the association when contacting them.

According to Ameer, those contacted were made to sign a form to be eligible under the scheme.

These homeowners were told that if they did not sign the form, they would not be entitled to the replacement home and compensation payment,

 he said, adding that a ballot was then carried out to determine which replacement unit they were entitled to.

He also questioned the method employed by the developer to determine how much compensation is payable to each successful homeowner.

When contacted, Uttara Land director Anuar Idris confirmed that not all residents were contacted. He said his company only dealt with those to whom DBKL issued relocation letters.

Anuar also denied Ameer’s allegation that some residents were compensated more than once.

Earlier this month, the association handed DBKL a memorandum highlighting the plight of 17 residents who had been denied their compensation.

The association also claimed a DBKL census carried out on residents affected by the project was 

biased and not comprehensive

, according to two news reports.

It said its own survey uncovered many inconsistencies, adding also that many single and elderly residents were excluded from the census.

“We urge the new KL mayor, Maimunah Sharif, to seriously look into this issue and settle it once and for all. The complete recipient list should be given to us.

We want these ‘lottery draws’ to be abolished. We also hope DBKL will identify erroneous claims and recall all replacement units already delivered, so that these can go to the deserving residents. - FMT